A “surgical microscope” is to be understood, for purposes of the invention, as a surgical microscope for magnified visual depiction of an object field for an observer using an eyepiece.
A wide variety of light sources are used to illuminate the object field in surgical microscopes, for example halogen lamps, incandescent lamps, discharge lamps. The use of laser diodes for analysis, diagnosis, and therapy (e.g. retinal treatments) is common at present. Lasers are also known for control and measurement purposes on surgical microscopes, e.g. for automatic focusing.
Lasers are unknown, however, for illumination purposes as a light source for object field illumination in surgical microscopes. The disadvantage arising therefrom is that alongside a laser for the aforesaid analytical and diagnostic purposes, a conventional illumination system is additionally necessary.